Point Grey residents have mixed feelings about their own seawall

Mike Hager, Vancouver Sun07.06.2012

Cyclists and motorists jockey for position along Point Grey Road. The Vancouver park board is considering completing a missing link in the city's seawall between Kitsilano and Jericho beaches now that a donor will kick in tens of millions of dollars for the project.Ian Lindsay
/ PNG

The park board has toyed with the idea of extending the seawall, but funding has been an issue.Colin Price
/ PNG

Owners of the multi-million-dollar waterfront properties along Point Grey Road have mixed reactions to news of a possible seawall passing by their yards to bridge the 2.5-kilometre stretch between two nearby beaches.

Residents raised a variety of concerns about any public pathway between Kitsilano and Jericho beaches, ranging from environmental degradation to money worries, but others supported any plan to lessen congestion on the seaside road.

“I’m dead against it for the simple reason [that] all the members of the society enjoy the view,” said Sophie Djordjebich, executive director at the Brock House seniors’ activity centre.

She fears that a public walkway at the front of the property, which borders Jericho Beach, would deter people from renting the space for weddings and take away valuable profits from the non-profit society which manages the property.

To the east of Brock House, John Auersperg watches people and their dogs walk the wet beach each day at low tide.

He is worried a seawall would ruin the natural setting below the large concrete retaining walls of the mansions above.

“The idea of a continuous walk is a nice one, but there goes another piece of nature,” Auersperg said.

Green Coun. Adriane Carr, who seconded an upcoming council motion to study the seawall plan, concedes that building a walkway could do some damage to the ecosystem, but said any plan would involve extensive environmental consultation with federal authorities, who are in charge of any land below the high-tide mark.

Donna Heaslip, who has lived with her husband overlooking the water since 1985, said there are “far better ways” to use civic funds, even if an anonymous donor has offered to kick in tens of millions for the project.

“I think they’ve got so much walkway now, I really don’t feel it would be worth the price they would have to pay to put a seawall in,” Heaslip said.

However, other residents support a link that would create a continuous seawall stretching from Point Grey around False Creek to Stanley Park and Coal Harbour.

As long as it’s done right, Laurence Estrin, a 40-year resident of the area, favours the project.

“They’ve been talking about a seaside path on and off for years. It’s got to be 10 feet above high tide because when you get a northeast storm coming in it can really crash up.”

He said a priority would be to get a bike path on Point Grey Road to reduce the pollution from the steady stream of cars that prevents him and his wife from opening their windows during the day.

Lululemon founder Chip Wilson said he supports the seawall plan as a long-term fix to the road’s traffic jams and safety issues even if it runs past his sprawling concrete mansion, which — still under construction — was last valued as Metro Vancouver’s most expensive home at $37.2 million by B.C. Assessment.

“I think that somehow connecting the two beaches is going to [give] people access to way, way more of the city and it’s probably going to take a lot of traffic off the roads,” Wilson said. “I don’t care which way it happens, it needs to happen.”

An avid seawall user, Wilson said the bike lane along Point Grey Road proposed by council could be a good short-term solution to the precarious way cyclists, drivers and pedestrians are now sharing the space.

The two councillors asking city staff to review the feasibility of a seawall said they hope residents can rise above any potential NIMBYISM (Not in My Backyard).

“I hope proper public consultation can deal with any issues people have,” said Non-Partisan Association Coun. George Affleck, who will bring the motion before city council Tuesday. He cautioned that plans are in a preliminary stage and no detailed engineering or designs have been completed.

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